Official Xbox 360 Magazine - Play new games every month with the UK's number one Xbox 360 magazine

	Black Ops: Killstreak Ideas FEATURE: What's confirmed, expected, suggested!
	Mafia 2 ³⁶⁰ REVIEW: An offer you can't refuse?
	10 Things To Try In Crackdown 2 FEATURE: Have you done them all yet, agent?
	OXM Speaks To... Phil Spencer FEATURE: MGS boss on Kinect, Crytek and Milo!

On the site today - News: Black Ops Mulitplayer trailer hits http://bit.ly/cMRurs

BROWSE OXM

OXM CONTENT

Contact us
Feeds

Login

Not a member yet? Click here to register!

Video

Launch Player

The Year That Was 2008

Tips For The Top In 2009

Feature

Winners And Losers Of 2008

30-Dec-2008 Who saw their stock rise in the past 12 months and who saw it fall?

6 Comments

There's been a lot of gaming action the past year.

Inevitably, there have been some surprises and some disappointments.

As a result, some important figures within the games industry have seen their stock rise and stock fall. So who has had their fortunes and profile changed by the trials and tribulations of the year that was 2008?

Stock Rose

Cliff Bleszinski

A pretty easy choice but it's sometimes hard to forget that ensuring Gears of War 2 lived up to the hype wasn't an easy task. Arguably the most hyped title released this year, Bleszinski had the job of pumping up the sequel without overselling its promises, angering the reactionary section of the internet and getting us excited. While still working on the sequel, of course.

That he managed two out of three is remarkable (you can never avoid making the internet angry) - that he did so while Gears of War 2 delivered is why he's on this list.

Peter Molyneux

Over the years, Molyneux has earned a reputation as a man who shoots for the moon but delivers a raincloud. When Fable was released for Xbox, he seemed stuck with that reputation, as few of his promises made it into the finished version.

Molyneux won the gaming public back to his side by not only showing great restraint and humility by admitting his previous errors but by delivering Fable II, a game that was simply a joy to play.

Phil Harrison

When Sony's main man in Europe jumped ship to the sinking Atari, everyone thought the same thing - has Phil Harrison gone completely mad? Little saw the point in leaving a secure, comfortable job at Sony to join Atari, which was widely seen to be on its last legs and wobbling.

Yet Phil Harrison has helped turned the fortunes of Atari around, with a strong portfolio of incoming games - Tekken 6: Bloodline Rebellion, Chronicles Of Riddick: Assault On Dark Athena and Ghostbusters amongst the announced titles since he joined. Phil Harrison? Mad? He's the one who is laughing now...

Stock Fell

Denis Dyack

What should have been a tale of triumph was quickly rewritten as a tale of tragedy, as Denis Dyack managed to almost single-handedly orchestrate the downfall of Too Human.

With Too Human finally emerging from development hell after many years, everyone waited to see if Silicon Knights could produce the goods. However, an average looting game wasn't helped by Dyack rallying against journalists, the internet and people who just didn't get his game. Dyack has been the polar opposite to Molyneux. Both are very human developers who aren't afraid to show a personal side of their character but while Molyneux's emotional outbursts are endearing, Dyack's smacked of immaturity.

Jade Raymond

With Assassin's Creed clocking up monster sales, Jade Raymond's profile couldn't have been higher. As the producer for Assassin's Creed, she also became the face for the game, arguably only second to Cliff Bleszinski in terms of visibility.

However, Ubisoft also pushed her in front of a backlash when it was felt she was being pushed ahead of the rest of the team and, at some points, even ahead of the game itself. Things have been extremely quiet on the Jade Raymond front since Assassin's Creed release, so this is the year her profile has slipped somewhat.

Midway

While Atari seems to have found its form since Phil Harrison joined, Midway is struggling. Saddled with debts and facing bankruptcy, they should have really known better than to put all of its eggs into the Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe basket. It's a good game but come on... the saviour of a company? As it's currently proving, highly unlikely.

Ryan King